


Titanic

by keysoossi



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Canon, ChanSoo - Freeform, KaiSoo - Freeform, M/M, kaistal - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2019-01-28 22:28:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 14,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12616932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keysoossi/pseuds/keysoossi
Summary: They were sailing until something cut through their hard-as-rock relationship or so Do Kyungsoo thought. Somebody needs to save him.





	1. Save Me

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this on March 2017 and decided to post my work here at AO3 as well. I wrote this because KaiStal was turning one year that time and I cannot move on from KaiSoo yet. :D To clear things out, I do not hate KaiStal. :) Enjoy reading and comments will be very much appreciated. :)

March 31, 2016 in the evening when Chanyeol was browsing through SNS and found out that the news about Krystal and Kai’s relationship has been leaked to the public.

“Aish…” He’s tired from previous commitments with EXO and he blamed himself for checking his SNS when he’s supposed to take a rest. He was just staring baffled at his phone when he suddenly jumped out of shock because someone just came from behind him.

“Chanyeora… What’s that?” A deep voice surprised him. Deep calm voice of the owner he didn’t want to worry.

“Nothing... but I bet you already knew about this.” He answered. There was silence in their room. “Kyungsoo-ya…” He called the guy who was already climbing up to his bed. “I think I need someone to cuddle right now. I’m super tired.” He continued and was whining and pouting a little.

“Ah shut up. Go get Suho-hyung’s bunny.” He answered still with his deep voice as he slowly settled down his bed.

“Tsk. You’re no fun.” He said as he surrendered right away. A few seconds and the bunk bed started to shake a bit which startled Kyungsoo. But he did not bother to check. A few seconds and he felt something warm behind him. He does not believe so much in ghosts and ghosts shouldn’t feel that warm anyway so he did not bother checking again. Until an arm embraced him from the back.

“Sleep well, Do Kyungsoo.” He felt the whisper behind his ear and beaded tears started to form on his right eye – somewhere not visible to Chanyeol. He stopped his lips from shaking as much as he can. A few minutes and he didn’t notice that both of them have already fallen asleep.

\---

The next day was EXO’s free day so the boys were allowed to oversleep. However, Kyungsoo have already woken up at around 7AM due to some bustling outside the bedroom he shares with Chanyeol.

“Chanyeol? Are you awake?” He asked, with hoarse voice, facing the ceiling and his right arm over his forehead. There was no answer. “Tsshhh…” his lips formed a tiny smirk because he’s sure now it’s Chanyeol that’s causing commotion in the living room. He slowly sat up, went down the bunk bed and opened the door. It was slightly open when Kyungsoo froze upon hearing this voice he loved to hear. His heart was beating so loud and he was feeling dizzy. He wondered if he should just spend all day inside the bedroom. But –

“Good morning, hyung!” Kai greeted Kyungsoo. “Come have breakfast with us.” He continued showing Kyungsoo that eye-smile. Of course, Kyungsoo can’t ignore Kai or it will be obvious that he has a problem with him so he went to the comfort room to wash-up and joined them.

“Who did the cooking?” Kyungsoo asked everyone, looked at everyone except Kai. He was already chewing a slice of the pancake.

“It’s Krystal. She brought us some breakfast. Although I’m pretty sure she asked Victoria-noona to cook all these. Haha!” Kai answered gleefully. Kyungsoo’s chewing slowed down but he smiled. And when he smiled, it hurt him even more.

So that was it, the bustling earlier was because the members were interviewing Kai about Krystal and their relationship. All of the members looked so excited except him who was quietly eating his breakfast Kai set aside for him.

“So, are you going out today? We do not have any schedule.” Suho asked Kai. He has this serious face on. As EXO’s leader, he still thinks of Kai’s image despite how happy they are right now for him.

“Uh… No… She’s spending some time with Jessica-noona.” Kai answered.

“More like Jessica-noon would be having this girl-talk with her baby sister.” Sehun said, looking so smart and taking pride of his assumptions.

Amidst the teases and laughter, no one noticed Kyungsoo stepping away from them to go to the kitchen. He washed used dishes and kitchen wares left untouched last night. A few minutes later and -

“Hyung…” Kyungsoo heard a soft voice behind him and he recognized it right away. “I’m sorry.” Time stopped for Kyungsoo and he wished for someone to grab him out of the situation, to save him and it’s definitely not Kai – he can’t do that for him anymore.


	2. Rescue

Suho went back to his bedroom. Xiumin and Chen went to the gym. Lay went to the practice room even if it was a rest day. As for Chanyeol, he was watching Kai and Kyungsoo from the living room and they're not talking yet. He's ready to run to them in case  _something_ happens. But he was also busy cheering on (or pretending to cheer on) Baekhyun and Sehun who were playing League of Legends against each other. They were noisy enough to block Chanyeol's eavesdropping but he does not allow himself to be caught off guard so he kept peeking.

There was only Kyungsoo's movements as he continued to wash the dishes. As dishes piled up, Chanyeol finally saw Kai move as he walked to get a dish cloth then went back beside Kyungsoo. Chanyeol did not notice it but his heart was beating faster and he's slowly moving away from Baekhyun and Sehun. He moved closer to the kitchen, enough to hear them, enough not to get distracted by the trash-talking in the living room. He placed his back against the wall of the kitchen where he won't be seen by Kai and Kyungsoo.

"I guess we're just fine like this." Kyungsoo started. Chanyeol can hear how sad his friend is. Relatively sad because he was obviously happy a few weeks ago. Despite being tired from concert tours, he was happy - being able to help Kai when he was injured, passing him a bottle of water despite Lay between them during ments, and fixing his collar for him on stage. 

"I'm sorry, hyung. It's just that I was so confused." Kai answered and he stopped drying the plates. "And I'm sorry that I did not tell you about Krystal and that you had to know about it like this." He continued. "I should have told you right away when I started liking her and seeing her-" He was cut off when a glass slipped off from Kyungsoo's hand landing on another glass. There were cracks on both glasses and Kyungsoo was about pick both to throw out but Kai stopped him.

"No hyung, you'll get hurt."

"I'll be fine, Jongin." Kyungsoo blocks Kai's approaching hands. 

"Please hyung, don't-"

"No Jongin. You stop!" And a pair of upset and angry eyes were looking straight at Kai. "Please, stop helping me out when I don't need it. Don't talk to me about random things. Stop calling me to go out with you when there are other members around you can choose. Stop trying to sing the songs I'm working on. Stay away from me." Kyungsoo said all of those in one breathing and he didn't realize a tear has already fallen. But Kai saw that and he wanted to comfort him, hold his cheek and wipe away the tears that were about to fall, hug him and take back- He couldn't believe himself for thinking that he can take back his decision on dating Krystal. He shook his head in disbelief and stopped looking at Kyungsoo before he went crazy.  _You're making me crazy, Kyungsoo...-hyung_

When there was no more conversation, Chanyeol coughed before nearing the two.

"Kyungsoo, I need someone with me in my studio. Can you come?" He interrupted. Kyungsoo then continued his business, picked up the cracked glasses and carefull threw them to the garbage bin. "Oh, you're doing the dishes, ok lemme help you." He offered but Kyungsoo was already washing his hands.

"Finish it." Kyungsoo said as he wisked water off his hand.

"Ya! You know I don't do the dishes!" Chanyeol shouted at the small guy walking away from them. "Aiisshh..." He mumbled but he did the dishes anyway. 

"Chanyeol-hyung, take care of Kyungsoo-hyung for me." Kai said helping out Chanyeol this time.

"You don't need to tell me." He answered with his head bowed down to focus on the dishes. "I don't know what happened that you suddenly changed and you forgot about  _him_  just like that. But I might actually thank the heavens for this." He looked at Kai and smirked.

"What do you mean?" Kai looked so confused, wrinkles started to form on his forehead.

"You'll see." And Chanyeol placed the last pair of utensils he was washing on the extra dish cloth Kai had. "Have fun with Krystal!" He said as he walked away from the kitchen. He was whistling and Kai didn't like it.  _What the hell?_


	3. Bewilderment

Three months later and EXO was going to start with another concert tour soon and Suho found it necessary to call a meeting where everyone is present. When finally they got a chance to eat dinner outside together, he took this opportunity to re-align with his members.

EXO sat around a long rectangular table inside a private Korean dining hall. Sehun was sitting in one of the shorter side of the table followed by Suho, Kai,Chen and Xiumin on one of the longer sides. Across Sehun was Chanyeol. Across Suho's side was Lay, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo where Kyungsoo was nearest to Chanyeol and facing Xiumin. Each plate and bowl of food were served one by one and while all of them had their eyes feasting on the meals, Kai was looking at Kyungsoo as if he was figuring out something from the man's poker face. Chanyeol kept on nudging Kyungsoo's right elbow with his left and then pointing at a certain dish. Kyungsoo would nod but he does not smile. Sometimes, he would look annoyed and would slap Chanyeol's elbow away. Chanyeol would pout at this but continued on bugging Kyungsoo anyway. 

 _Is he fine now? I mean he's back to being cutely violent like this... Did I say cute?_  Kai thinks and he did not stop staring at Kyungsoo until he glared at him. The kind of death glare that made Kai's heart skip a beat, mouth o-ed and hurt his nape for quickly looking away.  _Ouch._  Pain was obvious on Kai's face. 

"Are you okay, Jongin?" Lay asked, the first to notice Kai's pained expression.

"Yes, hyung." Kai answered as he massaged his nape while taking short glances at Kyungsoo.  _Shit Jongin, get a hold of yourself._

Suho stood up and got everyone's attention by clapping his hands twice.

"Everyone, listen up!" The leader started. "We will be having a new concert tour on July this year. You know what this means, we will have to work harder for our fans as we will be showing them new stages and technology this year. You must have seen the new version of our lightstick." He continued.

"Yeah! It's pretty cool! It changes colors. I heard it will match some of our performances!" Baekhyun exclaimed looking very excited raising his fist as if he's holding a lightstick.

"That's right Baek. Aside from that, we might be having more challenging stages so let's try our best to still stay safe despite that." Suho said.

"Don't be overly excited on stage guys. We want all members dancing on stage. We don't want to disappoint our fans again." Chanyeol followed. Kai was half sorry hearing that but was half annoyed as well.  _Was he trying to scold me?_

"Just don't get injured. Fans are happier when they see us healthy." Suho said and smiled lovingly at the members. "More than an awesome stage, I want to see my members complete and healthy." Everyone responded with a nod.

"That was really touching, Suho-hyung." Sehun said and patted the leader's right leg. When Suho noticed they were quiet and seemed like contemplating on serious matters, he raised his voice and said "Do you guys wanna hear a joke?" His eyes were twinkling and excited. While everyone went "Nooooo!", some were acting like they're about to leave the area and the members roared in laughter. Yes, even Kyungsoo was laughing but he was laughing with Chanyeol who was making some remarks and pointing at Suho. Kai liked the sight of Kyungsoo laughing. He felt genuinly happy.

"Kidding aside, there's this segment we'll be doing for this new concert tour that I'm really excited with." Suho started again and he already sat down but he made sure the members could see him.

"What is it?" Xiumin asked.

"There will be an acoustic part where we'll be singing our songs' acoustic version. Of course, Chanyeol and Lay are going to play the guitar and the rest will do the singing." Suho answered.

"Oh! Can we choose who stand or sit beside with?" Chanyeol asked gleefully.

"I think we can but hear this out first." Suho answered. "So facing the audience, the line will start with Chanyeol from the left followed by DO, Kai, Baekhyun, me, Chen, Sehun, Xiumin and Lay."

"Sounds great! The guitarists stay on both ends." Lay remarked. Chanyeol high-fived Kyungsoo upon hearing this and even if Kyungsoo didn't want to respond to Chanyeol, he eventually did anyway because Chanyeol insisted. _Oh fudge is Jongin sitting beside Kyungsoo?_ Chanyeol's late reaction changed his facial expression which Kyungsoo noticed. The dishes were already ready to be devoured by the hungry idols so each one of them started to feed themselves but Kyungsoo and Chanyeol continued to talk.

"Did you just realize the arrangement will make me uncomfortable?" Kyungsoo whispered to Chanyeol who was wrapping a meat with sesame leaf.

"What? You beside me is competely perfect!" He answered wiggling his eyebrows.

"Not that, you dimwit! I meant -" Kyungsoo's words were blocked when Chanyeol stuffed his mouth with samgyeopsal he prepared. 

"You dimwit! Of course I know that..." He pouted in disbelief. Then he smiled and looked at Kyungsoo with caring eyes. "Don't worry, Kyungsoo. I got you." and Chanyeol winked at the small guy.

 _What the hell was that Chanyeol?_ Kai thought. He's been watching Kyungsoo and Chanyeol from the start.


	4. Failure to Recover

The boys were in the middle of a chaotic dinner. They ate and talked like they won't see each other anymore. They talked about their tour that just ended, their comeback, and the upcoming concert. They shared stories to the members about their solo or duo trips. It was a night of catching up. Besides, with their comeback nearing, they didn't have time to be as carefree as that night when they can eat whatever they wanted so they made the best out of it. Everyone seemed to be having fun except for one person.

"Hey Jongin, is there something wrong with your phone?" Chen asked Kai who has been checking his phone every minute.

"What?" He responded with a confused look and a bit startled. "No. I'm not checking my phone."

"Yes you are." Chen insisted pointing his chopsticks to Kai's phone lying on the table beside Kai's plate.

"No hyung. You're just imagining things." He then hid his phone inside his pocket. A few seconds later and Kai's phone rang with a ringtone loud enough for Lay, Baekhyun, Chen and Suho to hear. All five of them looked at him in surprise.

"Ohhh... Our Jongin here is finally making use of his phone because he's got a girlfriend." Baekhyun teased him and the rest of the members halted their chat and looked at Kai. Kai wasn't able to react to this, instead he answered the call while he was still sitting down.

"Soojung-ah!" Kai raised his voice as if on purpose. Everyone heard an "Oppa!" on the other line. No one noticed it but Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow upon hearing it and proceeded on poking left-over side dishes on his plate.  _Was his phone on loud speakers? Tsch._

"Go take your call outside." Suho said tapping Kai's right shoulder and pulling him up. "We can't let the others here hear your private conversation with Krystal-ssi."

Kai stood up giving Suho an ok sign while saying "Hey, I'm glad you called". He immediately ran outside of the hall and went somewhere private and quiet. The members didn't hear the part when Krystal answered, "What? You asked me to call you. Is there an emergency?" And Kai smiled to himself embarrassed. 

Meanwhile, the others continued to chat and drink alcohol. "Just for tonight" Suho said permitting the rest of the members a while ago to drink. "Tomorrow, let's have a good rest and we'll be taking on series of schedules again the following day."

After a few, no, there were many empty bottles of soju on the table already-

"I'm so glad we're able to do this again. It felt like forever." Lay said. 

"Is that alcohol speaking?" Xiumin said and laughed.

"Naaah.. I'm serious hyung!" Lay answered swaying his head from side to side. Xiumin thought this was Lay's cutest behavior when drunk and his deep dimples were showing while he was smiling with eyes closed.

"I agree with him though." Chen said. "I'm sobber by the way." Everyone had small laughs and went quiet for a few minutes - like they were treasuring this moment they longed for, like they cannot believe how far they've come, like they're thankful that most of them still chose to stay in the group and promised to be together forever. They may not be EXO anymore when they grow old but they promised to stay friends and when that time comes, they will thank themselves they had precious moments like this aside from concerts, fansigns, performances, interviews and other projects.The atmosphere felt heavy and anyone could burst in tears any moment but no one did. Until...

"I love you guys." Everyone had their fill of alcohol enough to make them dizzy with heavy eyes but this one statement woke their spirits up. Everyone recognized that deep voice just now was Do Kyungsoo - a person they know isn't very vocal with his feelings and who'd rather stay quiet most of the time. 

Kyungsoo didn't notice their reaction then he did something even crazier.

He looked at Baekhyun. "Love you, Baekhyun-hyung."

He looked at Lay. "Love you, Lay-hyung."

He looked at Sehun. "Love you, brat. Ah, our maknae..."

He looked at Suho. "Love you, Suho-hyung. Ah, and thank you..."

He looked at Chen. "Love you, Jongdae-hyung."

He looked at Xiumin. "I know we're both shorties but we should love ourselves..and I love you, Xiumin-hyung."

He looked at Chanyeol. "My bestfriend..." He placed his right hand on Chanyeol's left cheek. Suddenly, there were butterflies in Chanyeol's full stomach. "Love you, Chanyeora." Chanyeol forgot the previous 'Love you's and pretended it was only him who received it that night. He was so happy looking at Kyungsoo eye-to-eye while the others were super shocked and speechless. But Chanyeol's happiness didn't last long when Kyungsoo blurted one last line of his "Love You-spree".

Kyungsoo put down his hand to his lap. While looking at the door behind Suho he said, "And that guy outside... I love him, too... So much...so much it's hurting me."

"What???" Lay asked looking very confused. Chanyeol panicked at this and whispered to Kyungsoo.

"Ya.. You're drunk. Do you wanna go home now?" He asked

"Heyyyyy our Do Kyungsoo is being really mushy and sweet right now. Let's toast to thaaaaaaat!!!" Baekhyun seemed pleased, took his glass and initiated a toast. Chanyeol wasn't sure of it but it seemed like Baekhyun was distracting the members from what they just heard. Whatever, he was thankful Baekhyun is always a happy positive human being. Everyone followed him to do a toast, some where already struggling to stand up, some pretending to be sobber, and there was Kyungsoo who can barely manage to lift his glass. Thanks to Chanyeol, he was able to stand up and do a toast with the members. 

"WE ARE - " Suho raised his voice, his eyes were half open but the glow was there.

"ONE!" Everyone responded.

"EXO!-"

"SARANGHAJAAAA" As if they were in a concert. They all looked crazily happy. They were laughing, some sat back and some were left standing consuming their drink. It was chaotic! But Chanyeol was already sobber and he noticed Kyungsoo walking away from his seat. 

"Ya! Where are you going?" He's surprised that the person who can barely lift his arm earlier was able to still stand up and walk like that. He grabbed Kyungsoo's left arm but he removed it.

"I need to make a toast with him, too" Kyungsoo replied walking behind Chanyeol and heading straight to the door.

_He lost it. What should I do?_


	5. Confession

Kyungsoo was slowly making his way to anywhere his feet would lead him. He doesn't have any place in mind in particular that Kai could have gone to. But he's walking straight anyway until he reached a small empty dark lounge intentionally closed for that night because it's the nearest customer area to the hall where EXO's having dinner. Someone was sitting there talking to someone over the phone. He approached him anyway.

When he's near enough, he sat down quietly and Jongin was surprisingly not startled by this. Instead, he looked sad and bothered. But Kyungsoo did not notice that. He proceeded on giving his glass with soju to Kai and offered him a toast.

"Are you drinking from that bottle, hyung?" Kai asked slowly hiding his phone inside his pocket.

"I forgot to bring another glass so-" Kyungsoo answered with very red face. Kai was not sure if this was out of embarassment or if he was just really drunk already.

"I'll drink from the bottle instead." Kai offered. 

"No. I already gave you that, you should take it." Kyungsoo could not look straight at Kai. But when he finally did, Kai wished he didn't. Kyungsoo looked hot in his current state - his pleading eyes, his flushed cheeks and his red plump lips were all perfect in Kai's vision. He gulped after seeing that.

"Tell me again that thing you said inside the hall." Kai was nervous and he did not know why he's asking Kyungsoo to do that. Kyungsoo was confused at first but he then realized what Kai was talking about.

"You heard it?" Kyungsoo asked but he was not surprised or guilty or regretful. He wanted Kai to hear that but never thought he would. Still, he looked okay with it.

"Tell me that again." Kai insisted. His face was nearing Kyungsoo's and his eyes were looking at the other's eyes, nose, cheeks and lips. Both persons' lips were a bit open ready for what was about to happen.

"You already heard it. I don't have to say it again." Kyungsoo was not moving from where he was and he's not escaping from Kai's gaze, too. He stayed there with a bottle of soju on his right hand.

"Tell me or I'll-" Their faces were about 3 inches apart already and still Kyungsoo didn't move.

"You're hurting me, Kim Jongin." Kyungsoo's voice was shaking and a tear fell that surprised Kai. This made him move a bit further away from Kyungsoo. He just made him cry and he couldn't believe it. They weren't like this before. They were just happy-go-lucky friends who so many fans think have something special between them. They really were special to each other though but neither of them acknowledged this to each other. Until today, when Kyungsoo finally admits that Kai was someone more special to him. Three months of moving on did not do any good to him. He still loves Kai and he'd rather disappear now than not have him while they're close together.

Kyungsoo drank the soju with his trembling lips. A few tears still fell from his eyes. He consumed everything while Kai was looking at him speechless. He didn't know what to say either. His free hand was curled into a fist and his face looked puzzled. His breathing was heavy. Until he decided to drink that shotglass of soju on his hand as well, finished before Kyungsoo did and put the glass on the table. A few seconds later and Kyungsoo was done drinking the once half-full bottle of soju. He then put the bottle on the table as well and was prepared to leave.

"I wanted us to make a toast but I guess we can't do that either." Kyungsoo said sounding so upset and disappointed.

"Are you done?" Kai ignored him who was already about to stand up. Kai swiftly pulled Kyungsoo back to the couch and pressed their lips together. They exchanged kisses like they both wanted it. Like they longed for this. Kai softly brushed his hand on Kyungsoo's hair down to his nape and to his neck while Kyungsoo placed his hand on Kai's thigh and made its way to his waist. Kai moaned to the sensation and when both ran out of breath, they gradually stopped. Kai was teasing Kyungsoo when he brushed his nose to his' and with their eyes closed, they smiled. A few seconds later and Kai already felt something heavy on his left shoulder. Kyungsoo has fallen asleep and Kai found it very cute.  _Hyung...Can you wait for me?_

\--

Kyungsoo woke up with headache. Yes, it was a hangover. Even so, he recognized that he was not sleeping on his bed. He massaged his forehead in an attempt to ease the pain. He looked for his phone, maybe it was just around him or inside his pocket. But he got slightly alarmed when he can't feel pockets. He realized he was only wearing his boxers. And he's not wearing the shirt he was wearing last night. His white sleeveless undershirt was left on him.  _Who the hell undressed me last night?_ He continued to look for his phone around the bed, on both ends, finally under it where he finally found it too.  _What is this doing here?_  He sat upright after finding his phone and unlocked it immediately. It's already 10AM and it's so quiet.  _Where's everybody? Am I in the right dormitory?_ He snorted to this thought. It's very rare to wake up to a quiet dormitory especially if a Chanyeol lives in it. Speaking of Chanyeol, Kyungsoo just confirmed that he was sleeping on his bed. So where's his roommate? A few seconds later and his phone rang. It's Chanyeol.

"Ya!" Chanyeol spoke first.

"Hey Chanyeol... Thanks for letting me sleep on your  bed. Where are you?" Kyungsoo asked still massaging his forehead.

"I'm in my studio." He answered. "It's past 10AM already, go have your breakfast then come here." He continued. He sounded annoyed but compelled to do those things anyway.

"I'll just wash up and go there. Cooking myself breakfast will take time."

"No. I already cooked something for you. It might be cold already so heat those up."

"You cooked?"

"Yeah. Just go, okay? I'm waiting."

"Hey, why do I need to go there by the way?"

"Because I did you a favor and you have to pay me back!" Chanyeol ended the call after that. 

 _What's up with him?_ Kyungsoo thought.


	6. Swerve

Kyungsoo slowly opened the door to Chanyeol's studio. His friend was sitting in front of this big computer screen, with equipment around, he's wearing this big headphones while sitting on his chair and lightly tapping his fingers on the table.

"Chanyeol..." Kyungsoo spoke but it was almost a whisper behind Chanyeol who was busy listening to some music. Kyungsoo tried again by poking his shoulder.

"Chanyeol..."

Chanyeol looked up at where Kyungsoo was and he was not smiling at all. He looked rather annoyed. He slowly took off his headphones and pulled an extra chair out for Kyungsoo to sit on.

"Sit down." Chanyeol offered.

"You look weird." Kyungsoo expressed before sitting on the chair.

"Someone triggered me to be like this." Chanyeol answered. Kyungsoo frowned at this and he was about to ask the other why but he spoke first. "Come closer." Kyungsoo watched Chanyeol hover his mouse on his computer's files until he finally clicked on one and a media player popped up. "Listen to this."

"Is this a new song you're working on?" Chanyeol didn't answer, instead he gently placed the headphones on Kyungsoo and clicked play. As usual, Kyungsoo would listen seriously to anything Chanyeol makes. He'd smile if he liked it. He'd frown if something felt wrong. But most of the time, it's just his poker face that shows. Despite that, Chanyeol is thankful that Kyungsoo listens and gives feedback. Chanyeol was supposed to be upset at Kyungsoo but while he watched him listen to his song with eyes closed, a corner of his lips raised up slightly, the frown on his forehead eased, he couldn't resist giving in and just forget what made him upset. Until the song was done, Chanyeol was just there watching Kyungsoo and both of them looked satisfied.

"How was it?" Chanyeol asked trying not to look over-excited.

"This one's really good! I forgot I got headache." Kyungsoo smiled.

"Really?" He responded still calm. 

"Yeah. I think soon enough we'll be able to release this, sing this as a group! We just have to let the producers listen to this."

"Ah, but I only want you to sing this one." Chanyeol looked shy.

"Huh? Nooo.. You know we do not have solo songs in our albums yet. We haven't planned about that yet."

"Then I'll wait for that time when I can finally produce my own songs and then you'll sing for me. Okay?"

"Pssh.. Is this why you asked me to come? To agree on some of your future terms as a producer?" Kyungsoo laughed at this. Sometimes, it's really amusing Kyungsoo how hopeful Chanyeol can be like nothing is impossible.

"I'm serious though. You know I'm working really hard to create songs that EXO can sing proudly." Chanyeol replied and he looked upset at Kyungsoo's reaction.

"Hey..." Kyungsoo lifted Chanyeol's face that was already looking down. "I'm sorry I laughed. Your song was really good and if you feel that this is going to make it's way to one of our albums one day, then I support you." 

"Really?"

"You're acting like you're way younger than I am." Kyungsoo's answers were indirect but Chanyeol understood it anyway.

"Sing it for me, okay?"

"Why me? Jongdae or Baekhyun can sing it for you."

"I want you." Chanyeol's eyes were burning with conviction.

"What if I won't?"

"You just said you'd support me."

Kyungsoo got caught and he cannot find a way out.

"I'll think about it."

"Say yes already."

"It's not even happening yet."

"Just say yes." Chanyeol went closer to Kyungsoo. "Yes? Yes?" If Chanyeol was a cute puppy, he'd be wagging his tail at that moment already.

"Aiiisshh... Ok. I'll do it." Kyungsoo finally gave in and lifted up both his hands to act as if he's surrendering to the police. Chanyeol smirked to this.

"One more thing..." Chanyeol continued. He went even closer to Kyungsoo now such that their knees were already touching. "Stay away from Jongin."

"What???" Kyungsoo moved back a bit. "I mean I'm not getting any closer to Jongin anymore but you sound like I shouldn't be near Jongin ever anymore. You know it's impossible to stay away from any member right?"

"It's possible! If he comes near you, come to me. Hide from him. If he dances near you, ignore him. Dance as if he's not there. Just talk to me during ments. And that acoustic session on our upcoming concert, stay closer to me. Do you understand?" Silence. Kyungsoo was waiting for Chanyeol to explain.

"Because I'm afraid that you're getting close to him again and you'll end up..."

"End up hurt again? I'm not getting close with him again, Park Chanyeol. What the hell made you say that?" Kyungsoo looked disappointed.

"Yes you are, Kyungsoo... Last night you--" Chanyeol stopped when it hit him.  _Kyungsoo cannot remember what happened last night?_

"What happened last night?" There was silence. "Park Chanyeol, what happened last night?" Chanyeol was struggling within himself if he should say it or not.  _If Jongin cannot remember this either, it's best if no one knows but me. As if nothing happened._

"Ya! Tell meee!!" Kyungsoo's voice was slightly louder now.

"You... You...j-just talked to Jongin.. Two of you only..."

"What? We did? What did we talk about??" Kyungsoo was already standing up and he was in a panic.

"I didn't hear b-but... I bet that was just nothing Kyungsoo so don't think about it anymore."

"Heol... I may have said some things to him that I shouldn't have said. I should go talk to him and ask..." Kyungsoo was about to leave the room but Chanyeol held his hand and stopped him.

"No! You don't need to talk to him about last night. Really.. It was just nothing. I saw you both make a toast and drank Soju and ..w-we left. I helped you go home because apparently, you were drunk."

"I WAS DRUNK? I WAS D-DRUNK. How? That's why I cannot remember how I got home... if I was drunk, who knows what I said to Jongin last night!!" Kyungsoo still could not calm down.

"Trust me, Kyungsoo." Chanyeol blurted out but it felt really heavy inside him. He's lying to Kyungsoo. "It's not a big deal. You do not need to confront Jongin about it anymore. Just act like you don't remember anything... well.. you really don't so just stop the curiosity, okay?" Chanyeol was already standing up, his arm around Kyungsoo's shoulders and tapping his arm, trying to calm him down.

"Thanks, Chanyeol. Was that the favor you did for me last night that I had to repay by listening to your new song?"

"Uhm.. Yeah." Chanyeol answered. He lied. He was not talking about that. He's pertaining to the kiss. Kyungsoo didn't know that it was Chanyeol who led him to Jongin that night. He didn't know Chanyeol wanted them to talk to end things. He didn't know Chanyeol was hoping that the confrontation will finally stop Kyungsoo from hoping there's still a chance for KaiSoo to be a real thing. He didn't know they kissed because of Chanyeol's wrong move. It was a favor for Kyungsoo, that is if he remembered. But he didn't. And Chanyeol couldn't thank the alcohol enough for erasing Kyungsoo's memory. Now, he just had to make sure Jongin forgot about it, too.


	7. Unclear

Kyungsoo and Chanyeol went back to their dormitory. Kyungsoo went straight to the kitchen to cook lunch for the members who were still asleep, while Chanyeol headed to their bedroom. He was surprised when he saw Kai clearing his single bed.

"Why are you here? I thought you're finally going to transfer to Chen's room?" Chanyeol asked.

"What are you saying, hyung? I never planned to transfer to another room." Kai answered, his back facing Chanyeol.

"Didn't you voluntarily leave us three months ago?"

"It doesn't matter. This is still my room and I'm staying here tonight." Kai finally faced Chanyeol when he's done changing the bed sheet. "I missed this room, hyung." He smiled. He honestly missed their room. "I missed my hyungs, too" And there's the smirk that Chanyeol didn't want to see and his brows furrowed at the sight. "Didn't you miss me?" Kai was playful again.

 _No._ "Whatever" He answered instead. He faced his bed to fix it. 

"Your bed's a mess. You even left your clothes on the floor." Kai commented.

"Those aren't mine." As if Chanyeol found a way to tease Kai, he smirked to himself and continued. "Those are Kyungsoo's."

"What happened?" It's Kai who's furrowed his brows now.

"We went home together." Chanyeol started. Kai remembered Kyungsoo sleeping on his shoulder while they were hugging each other. Then he gently repositioned him to comfortably lay his back against the couch then he put his head back on Kai's shoulder. After that, both of them fell asleep. When he woke up, he's no longer in the restaurant but in Chen's room, on the floor sleeping on an extra futon.

"And?" He couldn't explain it but he's intrigued.

"He couldn't climb up to his bed so I offered mine."

"You slept on his bed then?"

"No. I slept beside him."

"What? You could have slept on my bed!" 

"Naaah..." Chanyeol sat on his bed, feeling the sheets where Kyungsoo's body was. "He was murmuring something last night and I went closer to him so I could understand but he pulled me in instead. I couldn't let go anymore. You know how strong our Kyungsoo is." He then looked at Kai, eye-to-eye. "He whispered that he felt hot so..." Chanyeol can see Kai slowly fists to what he's hearing. "...I took off his shirt for him... took off his pants, too. Ah, that face and sound Kyungsoo made..."

"You obviously knew what happened between us last night." Kai cut him off still standing on where he was when Chanyeol started teasing him.

"I thought you'd act like you forgot. But you coming back here proves something." Chanyeol got serious. "Are you expecting Kyungsoo to remember what happened? He was too drunk I even had to help him walk"

"What if he does?" Kai counterattacked.

"I assure you he doesn't."

"Then I'll make him remember." Kai sounded like he's decided.

"Then what? You're still with Krystal and you'll only break his heart again, Jongin."

"Tell me hyung, since when did you care so much for Kyungsoo-hyung?" He's challenging Chanyeol.

"Long before there was KaiSoo." There was silence between them. "So please... We all know you love Krystal. I really don't know why you're suddenly acting like this. Be rational, Jongin. We have so many projects going on and I don't want Kyungsoo sick or wrecked because of you. So please... For the group..." At that point, both of them calmed down. Kai sat on his bed with his head bent down.

"I'm sorry hyung..." Kai sounded exhausted. Although Chanyeol wasn't sure what he meant, he's banking that Kai will not talk about his kiss with Kyungsoo anymore. A few seconds of silence and the door to their bedroom opened.

"Chanyeora... oh..." Kyungsoo stepped back when he saw Kai. "Hey Jongin.. You're back." He walked closer to Chanyeol and almost whispered "Are those my clothes?"

"You didn't notice when you woke up?"

"You told me to hurry up so of course I didn't notice." Kyungsoo slightly slapped Chanyeol's shoulders and took his clothes from Chanyeol's bed.

"Ehem.." Kai cleared his throat. "If you guys are already good not having me here, I can just go back to Chen-hyung's room."

"No!" Kyungsoo immediately responded. "You can stay here, Jongin. It's your room, too." He added.

"Won't you feel awkward?" Kai asked and he surprised himself. He wasn't supposed to ask that out loud. Chanyeol's eyes widened at Kai's question.

"Why would I feel awkward?" Kyungsoo was confused.  _Shit! Did I really say something embarrassing last night?_

"Never mind him, Kyungsoo." Chanyeol immediately tried to stop the conversation, stood up and pushed Kyungsoo towards the door. "Let's go have lunch." 

"Don't you remember?" Kai raised his voice a bit to stop his hyungs from walking out.  _Please say you do._

"Remember what, Jongin-ssi? I-I'm really sorry if I did something embarrassing to you. I probably didn't mean it." Kyungsoo said facing Kai while Chanyeol was blocking him.  _Did I hurt his feelings last night? Was I being selfish last night? Oh no!_

Before Kai could say anything, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo were already outside the bedroom heading towards the kitchen.

 

_He didn't mean it? He couldn't remember but he's almost sure that he didn't mean it. But that kiss... felt like the realest moment we've ever had, hyung._


	8. Wrecked

Weeks passed and EXO was busy with their preparations for their new concert tour. When there were no scheduled dance practices, they would go to the gym to exercise. They would allow themselves to rest but not too long unless it's sleeping at night. They had to attend to their other schedules like movie or drama filming, magazine photoshoots, endorsement and other project meetings. In short, there was no more time to dwell on their personal problems once they have officially started preparing for the concert. Even Kai was unable to see Krystal frequently. They knew this would happen but took a chance anyway.

Krystal understands Kai. Most of the time, he's unable to answer her calls or even text her back. He's always focused on practices. Partly because Kai is pressured, partly because he wanted to keep his mind and body busy and keep himself from being distracted. The more he focuses on not getting distracted, the more he forgets about himself and Krystal. And the more Kyungsoo is close to him, the more he's so messed up in trying so hard to focus. 

"Hey, Jongin, are you okay?" Lay asked him. "Here, have some water." He offered. Kai was sitting on the floor of their practice room, Sehun was sitting on one corner with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, while Lay was being a healer to his members. When Kai accepted the bottle of water, Lay went to Sehun to give him a bottle of water, too. "We're gonna give them a good show, I'm sure of that! We'll just have to practice more often." He said intending to give confidence to the maknaes.

"Yeah, Lay-hyung." Sehun almost just whispers in response and breathes out loud enough to release the stress.

Kai did not respond. Instead, he nods in agreement and brushed his hair with his hands.

"I think we've had enough for today." Lay said as he saw Kai's exhausted face. "We can just reconvene tomorrow. Let's have a good dinner then go to sleep."

"Ah!! Right! Kyungsoo-hyung said he'll cook for dinner today because the vocal line's rehearsal's supposed to end early." Suddenly, Sehun had the energy to stand up when he imagines what Kyungsoo's going to cook for them. 

"You guys go ahead." Kai said sounding really tired. With his head bowed down, he lifts his arm to wave at his friends. "Go already."

"What's the problem? No appetite?" Lay went back to check on Kai if he's sick.

"It's nothing hyung. I'll just go after you." Kai still refused to lift his head up.

"Then I'll just ask them to leave some food for you, okay?" Lay responds while patting Kai's back. He only got a short hum from him. Both Sehun and Lay went out of the practice room and cleaned themselves up before going to the dormitory.

\---

It's already past 10pm, all of the members have already eaten but Kai still isn't back.

"Maybe he went for a date with Krystal." Baekhyun scoffs while helping Chanyeol and Kyungsoo clean the kitchen.

"Hasn't anyone called him yet?" Lay asked.

"He left his phone in our bedroom." Chanyeol answered. He looked at Kyungsoo who he can't decipher if he's worried or pretending not to care. He's busy washing the dishes.

"Just go to bed after finishing what you're doing. I'll take care of him." Suho interrupted them. The guys nodded in chorus. There was silence and Chanyeol could hear Kyungsoo's sighing. They have already talked about their day over dinner so Chanyeol didn't really know what to ask Kyungsoo anymore just to keep his mind off of what's bugging him. He just resorted to what he actually does best to Kyungsoo --

"Kyungsooooooo...hurry up already! I'm sleepy. Look, everyone already left!" Chanyeol whined.

"You can go ahead if you're sleepy." Kyungsoo frowned at him.

"Aaahhhh, but I do not want to sleep without you..."

"What are you? A child?"

"Aaaahhh, here, let me wash those fast instead." Chanyeol bumped Kyungsoo away from the sink and he hurriedly cleaned all the dishes left. If there was no sound of running water and dishes clacking, there would have been 100% silence. Until Kyungsoo spoke--

"Let's go get Jongin."

"Suho-hyung's fetching him."

"No, he's still on the phone with the manager, I think." Kyungsoo said looking at Suho who's really talking to someone on the phone, fidgeting because he probably wanted to fetch Kai already. "Let's just go get him, Chanyeol." Kyungsoo's eyes were pleading and Chanyeol couldn't think of ways to ignore him as he's done with th dishes.

"Who knows where he went." Chanyeol said while wiping his hands dry with a dish cloth.

"Let's find him." No answer from Chanyeol. "Please?" How can Chanyeol resist those doe eyes? How can he endure a worried Kyungsoo? Of course, how can he just leave out a member who's probably going under a difficult situation right now?

"Okay. Let's go the practice room first. Hope he's there." Chanyeol finally agreed. Both of them put their hooded jacket on, still had decent pants and shirt on, wore their shoes and called out their leader's attention. Suho showed his relief and apologies to the two guys who were about to leave.

\---

Kyungsoo and Chanyeol were walking down the hallway to the dance room. Chanyeol could tell Kyungsoo's silently wishing Kai's just there, that he must have only fallen asleep. As they got closer, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo were looking at each other, confused.

"Can you hear that?" Chanyeol asked looking down at the shorter guy.

"Someone's crying?" Kyungsoo's eyes grew bigger. "Kai...." He's the first one to open the door and there they saw him, still sitting on the floor, hugging his knees and burying his head in his arms, crying.

Kyungsoo went closer and so did Chanyeol. They both sat beside Kai, one on each side. Kyungsoo hesitated to pat him at first but thought he probably needs a little comfort at that time. He's not really sure what Kai's going through because he assumed both of them are already going past the KaiSoo issue. 

"Jongin..." Kyungsoo said in a soft tone.

"Kyungsoo..." Kai's voice was still shaking.

"You mean Kyungsoo-hyung?" Kyungsoo tried to joke around.

"Kyungsoo..." Kai repeated then coughed.

"Come on, Jongin. You should take a rest now." Chanyeol said and he was genuinely gentle. Despite this feeling he has that it's because of Kyungsoo that Kai was like that, Chanyeol was still concerned.

"Can I talk to Kyungsoo?" He said still not moving.

"I'm here, Jongin. What do you want to talk about?" Kyungsoo moved closer to Kai, bowed his head a bit in an attempt to see his face.

"Just you, I only want to talk to you." And Kyungsoo looked at Chanyeol. The taller guy understood it right away and even if he was hesitant, he agreed. But he motioned a "call me" to Kyungsoo first before leaving the room.

When Kyungsoo heard the door closed, he started, "It's just the two of us now. What do you want to talk about?" Kyungsoo's voice was gentle and caring. It's as if he was never hurt by the man beside him.

Kai slowly lifted his head up, then he looked at Kyungsoo eye-to-eye. They stared at each other for a few seconds then Kai slightly opened his mouth. Kyungsoo felt bad for thinking how hot Kai looked at that moment and he mentally said sorry to Krystal for thinking that way to her boyfriend. His hearbeat was already notably fast but it just got faster when he heard Kai asked, "If I break up with Krystal, can we still go back to how we were before?" and a tear fell from Kai's swollen eye.


	9. Closure

Chanyeol doesn't know why, or he just refuses to acknowledge, he's so nervous while waiting outside the practice room. He can try to listen to the conversation but the room is almost sound proof and he absolutely cannot hear only two people talking so he doesn't try. Instead, he stays a few feet away from the door, sits down on the cold floor and waits for them to finish.

Chanyeol is trying to calm himself down, so is Kyungsoo. He has to stay rational above his feelings. He convinces himself that he's moving on from Kai but his heart clenches seeing Kai so wrecked like that.

"What happened, Jongin? Did you and Krystal have a fight?" Kyungsoo avoids the question and tries to remind Kai of his girlfriend.

"No, we didn't." He looks down then shifts his whole body now facing Kyungsoo. "I'm starting to think if I did the right thing to give our relationship a chance. I didn't know we'll be apart like this, Kyungsoo. I didn't..."

"Call me hyung. It's making me uncomfortable at this moment." Kyungsoo interrupts.

"I used to call you by your name when we're alone like this before though." Kai frowns at the sudden sternness of Kyungsoo's voice. "Don't take that away from me, too."

"It's not like that. I am still your hyung afterall." Kyungsoo softens his voice a little.

"So we're following rules now?" Kai harshly wipes his tears and curses.

"Watch your mouth." Kyungsoo frowns, too.

"Just answer me, Kyungsoo, okay? Just tell me if we can still go back to the same way before." He pulls and shifts Kyungsoo to face him, too. "Please, don't you really remember what happened?" The older's face frowned even more but not because he's upset, this time because he was curious. He doesn't remember anything and he guesses it's about that night when they had dinner. However, he ignores the curiousity and moves back a bit from Kai.

"You know what, we have a lot more important things to think about than this." Kyungsoo prepares to stand up but Kai holds his wrist.

"We kissed." Kai drops it, as if it's his last chance to convince Kyungsoo to agree with his plan. "We fucking kissed so deep, Kyungsoo, and I go crazy every time I remember that." Kyungsoo escapes from Kai's grip and the surprise on his face was so obvious even in that dimmed room. "It felt so great when you kissed back." Kai slowly moves towards Kyungsoo.

"What the fuck are you talking about, Jongin? We didn't kiss!!" Kyungsoo is sure because he cannot remember it but he knows Kai won't lie to him like this. So he's extremely confused and bothered looking away from Kai while trying to recall if they really did. He's having a mental block and he didn't notice Kai approaching him until he felt a hand around his nape. "Do you want me to remind you?" Kyungsoo notes that Kai's voice was full of lust and he doesn't like it. He doesn't like Kai acting like this. They were a sweet innocent "couple" before. They didn't go beyond hugging. They definitely didn't even kiss on the cheeks. So Kyungsoo pushes Kai back. He lands on his butt but he doesn't notice the pain. He's startled like he's escaped from a heavy spell of lust.

"You're disgusting, Jongin." Kyungsoo immediately stands up and heads to the door.

"Kyu-... H-hyung! I'm sorry!" Kai follows him and grabs his wrist again. Kyungsoo faces him and Kai sees he's angry so he loosens his grip. Kyungsoo sighs heavily while facing the taller man.

"Don't break up with Krystal. We all know you love her. You talk to me about her sometimes before you started dating her, even if you didn't directly tell me you like her but I know your feelings are genuine. They're so real they hurt me bigtime." Kyungsoo stops when he recalls all those forced smiles he has to give him while he's happily talking about his special someone. "But I want you to be happy, Jongin." Kyungsoo stops his tears from falling but his voice is trembling. "Krystal, I'm sure she loves you back. You guys look so good together, too. Such a perfect match." He smiles bitterly. "If we did kiss, I'm sorry, I was probably just too drunk that night. I'm sorry for kissing you back. It's definitey wrong." Kyungsoo doesn't hear any response. Kai's looking down the floor speechless. He's not sure if he's listening but he's letting it all out now. "It's...our first time that's probably why you're unable to forget it and confuse it with something else." Kyungsoo tries to explain.

"But we did have something else right?" Kai's crying again. Kyungsoo feels the urge to wipe those tears away but stops himself.

"It's too late, Jongin." He doesn't answer directly but Kai gets it. They did have something else but things were so complicated and no one was brave enough to confess. "Just forget about it. It's getting late. You need to take a rest." Kyungsoo turned back. "I'll go ahead. Clean up and make sure to be home." Kyungsoo's voice was stern. He walks out of the practice room. As the door closed, Kai feels like what he and Kyungsoo had officially ended. And he's hurt. Especially when before the heavy door closed, he saw Chanyeol waiting for Kyungsoo and embraced him right away.


	10. All For Him

Suho arrived just in time after Chanyeol and Kyungsoo faced their backs towards the practice room, ready to leave the area.

"What took you so long to return to the dormitory? I'm worried as hell!" Suho exclaimed. He's holding his phone and car key so they knew he brought his car. "Is Jongin inside?" Suho looks at Kyungsoo and noticed his slightly red eyes. "Oh- Kyungsoo-ssi! What happened?" He rushed to the smaller guy and held his shoulders. "Are you alright? Did you guys have a fight?" He decided to seek for answers from Chanyeol.

"Nothing, Suho-hyung. Let's just go home. And Jongin's inside." Kyungsoo answered instead and pointed his thumb towards the back.

"Ok, wait for me. Let's go home together." Suho said walking past the members who simultaneously looked at each other. They didn't want to make the issue any bigger so they waited for the leader to come out with Kai.

Suho, his arms wrapped around Kai, walked out of the room. Kai has already changed his clothes and fixed his hair enough to look fresh.

"Let's all go home." Suho said looking at Kyungsoo and Chanyeol who answered him with a nod. They walked behind Suho and Kai who did not make any sound until they got inside Suho's car.

The ride back to their dormitory was quiet. Suho gets it. Something must have happened. But the exhausted look on Kyungsoo and Kai's faces tells him to just wait for his members to be ready to open up to him. Even the walk to the rooms was quiet. Chanyeol, Kyungsoo and Kai are roommates and Kai was just reminded of that when he was already facing the door to their room. He's about to go inside when someone stopped him, "You better eat first and seriously freshen up." Kyungsoo said less stern this time. The younger merely followed without argument. He went straight to the kitchen and found food left for him. "Heat those up first." Kyungsoo followed Kai to the kitchen but stopped when Kai told him, "You don't have to tell me what to do." He sounded bitter and Kyungsoo knew exactly why so he slowly turned back and walked towards their bedroom where Chanyeol was already waiting.

"You alright now?" Chanyeol asked. He's sitting down on his bed watching Kyungsoo climb up to his bed.

"I'm not sure... I guess I'm not." Kyungsoo answered slowly lying down and covered himself with his blanket. "Good night, Chanyeol." He murmured but the room was so quiet it was not difficult for Chanyeol to understand what he said.

"I'll make sure Jongin eats his dinner and sleeps." Chanyeol said even though Kyungsoo didn't ask him to. He just thought it will give his friend a peace of mind at least. He doesn't hear a response and he hopes Kyungsoo's fallen asleep. Then he quietly walked out of their bedroom and headed to the kitchen where Kai was.

"Yo..." Chanyeol greeted Kai. He knew Kai was in deep thought when his shoulders jumped a bit, startled by his sudden appearance. There was no answer. He decided to sit on a chair across Kai. He wanted to catch his attention so he asked him directly, "Did you tell him?" Still no response. "I told you he forgot. You could have just let it pass." Chanyeol spoke with his hands clenched together on the table like he's about to do business with the guy in front of him.

"But I didn't forget and it's unfair." Finally, Kai answered. "Why am I the only one bothered here? Why am I the only one messed up? It's been days since that happened and I still can't forget about it. While he's.... he's moving on." Tears were threatening to fall from Kai's tired eyes again. He doesn't know why he's talking to someone who can possibly take Kyungsoo away from him but he's speaking to him anyway.

"You're being unfair here, too, Jongin-ssi." Chanyeol spoke like a caring brother to the younger. His statement made Kai look away from his food and look at him almost frowning. "And I know you're messed up like this because you know the right thing to do but it's against what you want now but you need to understand things. So you can talk to me, okay? I'll help you out."

Kai scoffs at what he heard. "Are you sure you're not doing this for yourself?"

Chanyeol frowns, "What?"

"I saw how you hugged him after he went out of the practice room. Seems like your chance has finally come." He proceeds to finish off his food.

Chanyeol thinks Kai was just frustrated so he controls himself. "Maybe we should just talk about this again next time. You're obviously tired, sorry." 

"Whatever." Kai stands up, heads to the sink and washed the utensils. He sighs, "Sometimes, I don't understand you, hyung. One day you're teasing and threatening and the next day you're concerned about me. Which one are you?" As soon as he finished washing quickly, he turned back to face Chanyeol sitting down, still has his back against him and the sink. There's silence, both thinking of what to say.

"This isn't the right time to tease you, Jongin." Chanyeol answered after sighing loudly. "I'm doing this because... because Kyungsoo's..." He's not sure whether he should tell him. "After all, Kyungsoo still cares about you even if he's moving on. And I can't stand it that he's worried about you when you're messed up like this. I want Kyungsoo smiling again. And I'll do anything to make that happen." He covered his face with his hands. "Ahh! why is this embarrassing?"

"You do like him." Kai bent his head as if in defeat. Smiling a bit.

"He doesn't know. It doesn't matter now. What matters now is you and your feelings." Chanyeol uncovers his face and holds Kai's shoulder and pats him. "When you're ready, you can always talk to me." He smiled and then headed back to their bedroom. "Oh, hurry up! Wash-up now and go to bed. I promised him that you'll sleep tonight."

Kai chuckles. He heads to the bathroom, washes himself and goes directly to their bedroom. His bathing time was just enough to make sure his hyungs have fallen asleep before he enters. Finally, all three of them were asleep and their bedroom was so peaceful masking the problem three of them have right now.


	11. Bloom

The next morning, Chanyeol woke up last in their bedroom. Kyungsoo was already gone but the bag he uses to bring practice clothes was still hanging on their door. He was probably having breakfast with the members. However, Kai's bag was gone. _He must have gone to practice already. Has he eaten though?_ Chanyeol takes time to think and recall what happened last night. He's not sure what to expect today. Is Kyungsoo going to talk to him again? Is Kai still going to convince Kyungsoo to agree with his plan of breaking up with Krystal? Chanyeol shakes off the negative thoughts and decides to prepare for practice instead.

Chanyeol just finished taking a bath and he has his towel wrapped around his lower body, his upper body totally exposed. He was about to drop the towel to wear his pants but the door suddenly opened and he immediately wrapped it back around his waist.

"Woah! You surprised me!" Chanyeol's eyes grew big when he saw Kyungsoo entered the room.

"You could have locked the door, idiot." Kyungsoo frowned. He walked towards his bed to get his phone and earphones under his pillow. "You're blocking my way. Move over."

Chanyeol pouts. "Nope." Kyungsoo tries to get past him but Chanyeol was such a giant he can easily block Kyungsoo out. They were moving sideways, left and right like they're playing a game.

"Ya! Chanyeol!" Kyungsoo raised his voice a bit. "Mooove!!!"

"Ah, do an aegyo first!" Chanyeol thought his idea was so smart he showed him a proud smile.

"As if. Just let me through or I'll punch you."

"You, punch me? Pfft"

"Are you challenging me?"

"Punch me then." Chanyeol laughs while opening his arms to welcome Kyungsoo's punch.

"Tch. You asked for it." At the sight of Kyungsoo preparing to seriously punch Chanyeol, the taller guy kinda regretted he even dared him to do it. When Kyungsoo's punch was on its way so fast showing how strong it's impact will be, Chanyeol immediately closed his eyes and prepared his abdomen for pain. But nothing came.

"Gotcha." Kyungsoo smirks and immediately placed his two hands on both sides of Chanyeol's waist.

"Eh?" and the next thing Chanyeol felt was Kyungsoo tickling him so hard he screamed. "Stoooop!" He was laughing but he's in pain and that made Kyungsoo laugh, too. "My towel's falling off!" And he continued to laugh.

"This is what you get for being so stubborn." Kyungsoo laughs and then releases Chanyeol. Using his left arm, he pushed Chanyeol away so he can pass through. The taller guy went weak and sat down on Kai's bed.

"Let's go together." Chanyeol said catching his breath. He looks at Kyungsoo tiptoe-ing to reach for his phone and earphones under his pillow.

"Hurry up then!" Kyungsoo said and faced Chanyeol after he got his phone and earphones. He still had that smile left from laughing hard earlier. Chanyeol thinks it's going to be a good day.

\--------

All nine of them were practicing hard. It's their last day to rehearse and they're off to start their concert in Seoul the day after tomorrow. After the music stopped, all of them released a ball of air. Others were catching their breath, others were drinking water, others were recalling if they did some mistakes. While no one was talking to each other, the door to their practice room opened a bit and someone peeped in. Kai's heart skipped a bit when he saw Krystal with her girl-crush outfit on, soft hair hanging and her face almost has no make-up on.

"Hi guys!" She greeted everyone with a shy smile. The guys stood up and greeted her back with big smiles. Suho waved at her by doing this hand movement from f(x)'s Pinocchio (Danger) and Krystal can't help but laugh at him. She did the hand movement, too, which made the guys giggle. Xiumin ran to the door and opened the door for Krystal so she'd feel welcome. "Thanks Minseok-hyung." She bowed to him. Xiumin bowed a bit, that's when he noticed Krystal's holding a bag of food (was what he hoped for). "Is that food?" He asked and his eyes were glowing. 

"Minseok-hyung, that could only be for her boyfriend!" Baekhyun exclaimed and at the same time teased Kai by poking his sides with his elbow. Kai's lips were forming into a smile but he's holding it back because he's now embarrassed. It's the first time Krystal went to see him practice and she even brought food! Sehun needed to push Kai to walk towards Krystal because he obviously cannot move yet and Sehun laughed at how cutely embarrassed Kai was right there. Kai glared at him then looked back to Krystal with gentle eyes.

"Would you like to eat this in the company cafeteria?" She asked him showing the bag of food.

"Sure." Kai showed her a big smile. "Thanks." He didn't bother to look at the members anymore because he knew they had this smirking look on their faces already. He looked at their leader though to tell him, "I'll just have lunch, hyung!" and he went off. He grabbed the bag of food from his girlfriend and together they walked out of the room.

Chanyeol didn't mean to notice but he saw Kyungsoo smiling then he went back drinking his water.

"Ok, let's grab lunch now, too, and resume with our practice after an hour." Suho announced.

"Ok!" The rest of the members answered and took their wallets out.

"I think it's a good idea to have lunch in the company cafeteria, too. Plus, I feel like watching a sweet romantic love story." Baekhyung wiggles his eyebrows and all of them gets it. All of them laughed at the idea but agreed anyway except for one.

"But I need my bubble tea! I haven't had it for weeks!" Sehun cried.

"Go buy it then!" Suho said.

"I'm tiiiiired!" Sehun whined.

"I'll buy it." Kyungsoo said and hurriedly walked past the members. 

"Ah! I'll come with you!" Chanyeol ran after him.

With their cap on and face almost covered with a face mask, they both went out from the backdoor of the company and walked to where Sehun usually buys his bubble tea. Kyungsoo's glad it's just two streets away and there were no fans around yet so they were able to walk peacefully along the streets.

"You look happy." Chanyeol started the conversation after a few minutes of silence.

"I am." Kyungsoo answered quick. "I'm glad Krystal came to visit Jongin." He continued smiling.

"Pfft. I know you, Do Kyungsoo. What did you do this time?" Chanyeol chuckles.

As if caught for doing a crime, Kyungsoo looked at Chanyeol with his big doe eyes. "Ya! I just asked Krystal if she could come visit him, okay?" He knew he can't hide this from Chanyeol. "Besides, it made Kai smile like that." And Kyungsoo was smiling again, sincerely happy for Kai. "I'm happy when he's happy."

"Same here"

"You're happy when he's happy?" Kyungsoo asked innocently.

"I'm happy when YOU are happy." Chanyeol stared at the smaller guy who looked kinda surprised. Kyungsoo doesn't know why but it felt awkward hearing Chanyeol so cheesy like that. It's not the first time but that moment felt different. All he can muster to say back to him before they reached the store was, "Thank you."

"No problem. Just buy me a drink, too." Chanyeol tried to break the awkwardness which he felt, too.

"What the hell?" Kyungsoo frowned. And both of them laughed. Kyungsoo ended up buying all of the members their drink and made Chanyeol carry everything except Kyungsoo's and Sehun's.

"You're mean." Chanyeol pouts.

Kyungsoo laughs and starts to run ahead.


	12. His First Aid

Just a few minutes left and the VCR playing in the big LED screens of the Olympic Gymnastics Arena is about to end. All EXO members gathered to form a circle for last minute reminders. All of them have their game-face mode on, breathing in and out to relax, shaking their hands and feet and cracking their necks left and right. No one thinks of their personal problems tonight. It's just EXO and the EXO-Ls. Their hands gathered on top of the other's on Suho's signal and after they shouted "Fighting!!!", they went behind the big LED screen which soon opened and EXO was finally out to see the audience. EXO can hear the fans screaming so loud and they knew they had to do their best to give them the best show for their first day of EXOrDIUM. Indeed, the first day of the concert was epic. Their preparations were all worth it. The loud music filled up the whole arena. Things went as planned. EXO were professionals on stage. But when it came to parts when it was "fun" time, there was no stopping EXO from playing around.

The first day of the concert was done successfully. All the members were quite satisfied but of course, the thirst to do more and improve and do things they haven't done yet on the first day was there. 

"Aww, I can't wait for tomorrow!" Baekhyun exclaimed while in the van on their way back to the dormitory.

"Me, too!!! The fans were so hyped I wanna see them again!" Chanyeol added. The members agreed to this by nodding. Obviously, they're tired but they were smiling.

"Don't we deserve a good meal today?" Xiumin almost hums.

"You're sleepy but you still think of food?" Chen laughs at him. The others, too, but they all sounded tired so they went fast asleep inside the vehicle.

When they got home, the members washed up and headed straight to bed.

Kyungsoo was climbing up to his bed when Chanyeol, who was almost asleep, said, "Kyungsoo-ah! Be careful in climbing up, we don't want accidents while we're on this concert series."

"I knooow. Tell Jongin that." Kyungsoo chuckled.

"Hyung!" Kai wanted to rebut but then he felt more guilty than wanting to defend himself from the last concert's accidents. "You're right... I've caused you trouble helping me out during concerts. I do not want to trouble you again." He continued, his lips formed a little pout.

"Aigoo, there he goes again." Kyungsoo said while lying down and stretching his legs and arms. "You know why I helped you... I was always there, looking out for you..." He added smiling to himself like those were all good memories not hurting him much like they used to. "Today's concert was great and you didn't injure yourself so..." Kyungsoo yawned.

"Thanks hyung." Kai said.

"For?" Kyungsoo's voice is fading.

"Two days ago, you made Krystal visit me. It really boosted me up." He answered smiling.

"I knew it will."

"And I'm sorry... for everything..."

"Let's just forget about it."

"You don't remember it." And Kai blushed upon the memory. "Ugh! This is so embarrassing!" He hid himself under his blanket.

"Haha! I'm glad I don't!" Though Kyungsoo's eyes were heavy, he did laugh at the thought but he can't deny to himself he wished he remembered. He's staring at the ceiling and realized things do happen for a reason and what happened to Kai must be something that made him realize what he used to have and lost, but what and who he has now aren't things to regret about either. Kai's brief phase of confusion and mess made Kyungsoo realize what he wanted for him and what he wanted for himself. Both of them may still be recovering but he's confident he'll get over this. Plus, he thinks someone's trying to help him. Before he even thinks more about it, he's fallen asleep.

\-----

It's the second day of EXOrDIUM and all of the members were as energetic as yesterday. And when there's too much energy on Kai, it resulted to untying the silk-cloth ribbon around his neck. And when it was time to sit down for the acoustic segment to start, he just couldn't figure out how to tie it back. After a few attempts, like an instinct, he automatically asked Kyungsoo to help him out. Like an instinct, too, Kyungsoo tied the ribbon for Kai. Kai made brief glances at Kyungsoo who was focused to do his job right and he thought,  _I missed you, hyung._ But he caught someone making brief glances at them, too and when they made eye contact, he couldn't help but smile and think,  _Hyung, you do deserve someone who can take care of you like how you take care of me. I hope you notice it soon and when you do, don't be a coward like me._ His line of thought was cut when Kyungsoo was done with the ribbon and they both faced back to the audience. The acoustic medley segment then started and Kai grabbed this opportunity to watch Kyungsoo sing, listen to his beautiful deep voice and witness him bring the microphone up to Chanyeol who's playing the guitar. The exchange of smiles was wonderful between Kyungsoo and Chanyeol but it pinched his heart a bit. 

It's Day 2 of the concert and even though it's just a re-run, the members still felt nervous on stage. Mistakes can sometimes happen, and so can accidents. Indeed, the concert was just a few songs away to its ending when Kai hurt himself. He was limping and went off the stage. But the show had to go on. It was only when the concert was done that the members finally got to talk to Kai.

"Kim Jongin!" A deep furious voice was heard first when the door to the dressing room opened. His breathing was heavy and Kai knew he ran as fast as he could all the way to him.

"Hyung!" Kai answered like a scared puppy, his foot already had first aid on.

"Aish!" Kyungsoo brushed his hair up at the sight of an injured Kim Jongin.

"Jongin, why didn't you head straight to the hospital?" Chanyeol asked calmly though he was catching his breath, too, for running.

"I thought I could still go up there. There's the first aid anyway." He answered.

"That won't do. The hospital can still accommodate him now right?" Kyungsoo looked at Chanyeol and he hated how the smaller guy looked so worried and scared.

"Yes, of course." Chanyeol assured Kyungsoo. He pats his head. "I'm sure the manager's taking care of it." He smiled and hoped this will make Kyungsoo feel a bit better.

"I'm sorry hyung. I should have been more careful." Kai said and he felt really terrible. The rest of the members came in and we're worried, too. However, they knew they just have to cheer up Kai now because what was done is done and the least they want is Kai depressed over this.

Kai was brought to the hospital. The internet immediately knew about his accident and Krystal was no exception. She sent him a message before planning to visit him. Kai told her to just wait for him to be released from the hospital so the media won't swarm over them while they're out in the public. Krystal understood this and promised to visit her boyfriend as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the members went home trying their best not to be too bothered about the accident. They trust that Kai will be okay when he said he thinks it's not too serious. But Kyungsoo just can't calm his thoughts. And Chanyeol notices this. They were in the bedroom, Kyungsoo standing by the window beside Kai's bed, Chanyeol sitting on his bed.

"Ya! Kyungsoo-ah... Stop worrying already, your face looks horrible." Chanyeol started joking around.

"I don't care. Jongin looked more horrible." Kyungsoo answered. "Go to sleep, Chanyeol." When Chanyeol realized how affected Kyungsoo is, he decided that joking around might not do any good this time. So he got up and went behind Kyungsoo. He slowly wrapped his arms around him which startled the other.

"Chanyeol..." Kyungsoo doesn't notice but his face turned from worried sick to warm bright red.

"Stop worrying, please?" He lowered his head to Kyungsoo's ears and whispered. "He'll be fine."

"Hm..." Kyungsoo froze and all he could muster to respond was a hum.

"Now, can we go to sleep?" He continued to whisper. Kyungsoo's confused if Chanyeol's voice was just gentle or there's something more but he's never gotten this close to him before, not even whispering like this to him before and it's causing him to feel weird.

"Y-you sleep first." Kyungsoo struggled to talk and his hands fidgeted. 

"I'm not sleeping if you're not." Chanyeol said pouting a bit. "Please?"

"Ahh.. Fine." Kyungsoo escaped from Chanyeol and because he was in a panic, he hit the corner of Kai's bed causing him to curse. Chanyeol laughed at this.

"What's so funny? I just hurt myself!" Kyungsoo frowned and continued walking towards his bed.

"Are you still worried about Jongin?" Chanyeol asked watching Kyungsoo panic.

"Of course yes." An immediate answer from Kyungsoo who was already climbing up to his bed.

"I'll sleep beside you if you want." Chanyeol smirks.

"NO!" Kyungsoo almost misses the last step to his bed. Good thing he was able to land on his bed before he falls but he looked clumsy and ...cute and Chanyeol laughs at him. "Sleep on your bed now, Chanyeol. We have a concert to do tomorrow. Good night." And Kyungsoo hid himself under his blanket, biting his lips and trying to shake away his weird thoughts that he didn't hate.


	13. Saved

It's a bit lonely without Kai in the concert but a few days of sacrifice will be worth it anyway once he's back fully-recovered. That's what everyone thought while Kai was resting while the concert was ongoing. After that day he cried so much after he was advised to skip some tour dates, the members promised to take care of him and tell him funny moments during the concert to cheer him up. So everytime they went home from a tiring 3-hour concert, they're greeted with Kai on the couch excited to hear their stories. It was sad when they did it for the first time but later on they got used to it and they just laugh every time. 

Chanyeol always had the most to tell Kai, Baekhyun follows and Suho's jokes spice up the stories. The evening conversations with Kai served as their stress-reliever, too. Most of the time, Kyungsoo makes them light meals and they eat together in the sala. Like one big happy family, they gather every night.

"I'll miss nights like this when Jongin finally recovers." Baekhyun laughs.

"Do you want me injured forever then?" Kai laughs back.

"If I get to eat Kyungsoo's cooking every night like this,why not?" Xiumin adds while munching on the food and everyone laughs. He's always about food.

"Raise your hand if you want to continue doing this every night!" Chanyeol exclaimed and started to raise his hand first. Everyone followed and they all roared in laughter. They're ganging up on Kai.

"I hope we still get to do this though even after Jongin recovers." Suho said, his eyes obviously glowing. 

"Eommaaaaa..." Baekhyun pouted and hugged Suho which just made them laugh harder.

"You have to recover fast, Jongin. The fans miss KaiSoo." Chanyeol said smiling but Kai and Kyungsoo were dumbfounded at his remarks. It's a good thing Kyungso was just sitting beside Chanyeol so it was easy for him to pinch his waist. "Ouch! That hurt!" He was about to pinch Kyungsoo back but it's the usual glare that Kyungsoo gives him that made him stop.

"How did you know, hyung?" Kai asked anyway trying to smile so as not to make things awkward.

"On Instagram." He answered scrolling on his phone.

"Sorry, they had to ask about me on your IG accounts."

"They comment on my posts, too. I believe even on Baekhyun-hyung's post, they do, too. They just probably miss you so much." Sehun responded even if he wasn't asked. Kyungsoo took brief glances at Chanyeol who was covering his pouting lips with his left hand and scrolling his phone with the other.

"Ah, let's go to sleep now everyone. Even if we have a free day tomorrow, we need this to catch-up with sleep." Lay said and everyone agreed. They stood up, said their good nights and went to their bedrooms. Chanyeol and Kyungsoo were left in the sala to help Kai walk towards their bedroom as usual.

"Let go now, Kyungsoo." Chanyeol said with a serious tone once they got inside their bedroom.

"Huh?" Kyungsoo looked past Kai and straight to Chanyeol with his doe eyes.

"Let go now, I'll lay Jongin on the bed. Go sleep now." Chanyeol explained.

"Oh, I thought... ok." Kyungsoo responded and slowly let go of Kai's waist and his arm around his neck, leaving Chanyeol to assist him. He stepped back and watched them carefully.

"Thanks Chanyeol-hyung, Kyungsoo-hyung... uhh...." Kai said slowly covering himself with a blanket. "I just wanna say... you guys looked like you were having the best time of your lives when you're on stage together, especially during ments." Kai laughs a bit at this. "I watched some fancams."

"Since when were you interested in social media?" Kyungsoo snorted.

"Just recently... When I itch to see what's going on while I'm gone..." Kai answered recalling what he saw in the internet in his mind.

"Are you sure that's all?" Chanyeol asked looking very skeptic.

"Ah hyung... that  _thing's_ over now..." Kai laughs.

"Tsk.. still.." Chanyeol was just about to throw tantrums when Kyungsoo grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of the bedroom.

Kai laughs at the sight of a tall guy being dragged by the shorter one. He's fondness was interrupted with the ringing of his phone. It's Krystal on the other line. And their "Hi-Hello" seemed like the sweetest moment Kai experiences every night.

Meanwhile, Kyungsoo dragged Chanyeol and made him sit down on the couch.

"Yah! What's your problem? Are you annoyed over those comments about me and Kai?" Kyungsoo asked still standing, looking over Chanyeol who wasn't looking at him back.

"pssh.. " Chanyeol didn't even say a word but just showed Kyungsoo how pissed he was. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes at this and sat down beside Chanyeol.

"A-are you..." Kyungsoo hesitated. He didn't want to assume anything. What would Chanyeol think of him if he thinks he like him? Or maybe Chanyeol will just laugh hard at him. After all Chanyeol's sweetness at him, which he just recently realized, he still isn't convinced about Chanyeol's feelings. He's always kind to all of the members anyway. But he mustered all the courage he has to ask one simple question, "Are you jealous?"

Chanyeol's heart skipped a bit when he heard the question and even if his face doesn't show it, he's panicking inside.  _Did he realize already??? Oh my god what should I tell him?_

"Never mind.. Why would you be jealous anyway... I  mean maybe you are because we're close friends, too, right? And Kai's not there and we've been having fun on stage like super fun, " Kyungsoo smiled at the thought, "but still the fans wanted KaiSoo..." Kyungsoo didn't know he was just speaking anything that comes to his mind and Chanyeol's staring at him. "Ah, this.. I mean... Do you...? uh never mind. Really. Let's go to sleep. Sorry I dragged you out here for nothing." Kyungsoo stood up but it's Chanyeol's turn to grab his wrist and pull him back down the couch.

"You're so cute when you're stammering." Chanyeol remarked. "I think this is the first time I saw you like this. I'm the first one who did this to you then." Like he wasn't upset minutes ago, Chanyeol was smirking and seemingly excited.

"Heol! You're crazy. Who's stammering?" Kyungsoo continued to deny and tried to escape from Chanyeol's grasp.

"You're face is red." Chanyeol continued to tease him.

"I'm just tired. Let's gooo. Or else..."

"Or else what?"

"I'm gonna punch you."

"Punch me then... I'm just warning you, if you end up tickling me again, you'll be surprised of what I'll do, you'll never forget this night." Chanyeol smirks again and slowly pulls Kyungsoo towards him. But just before their faces meet each other, Kyungsoo punched him with his free hand enough to make him curl and let go of Kyungsoo's wrist. "Ah!" Chanyeol screamed.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry!" Kyungsoo panicked and checked Chanyeol who was in pain but then he realized he was laughing.

"Aish! I'm going to bed." Kyungsoo immediately stood up and hurried to the bedroom. Before he went inside, he looked at Chanyeol and said, "I hate you!" and then he went in and shut the door close.

"Love you!" Chanyeol said but no one heard him, not even Kyungsoo. Looks like he's gonna keep up a little longer with this charade.

 

-END-


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